Motorized wheelchairs with differential steering tend to be difficult to control. The wheelchair short wheelbase and narrow track necessary for maneuverability in close quarters makes it difficult to achieve wheelchair stability during operation at relatively high forward velocities. The stability problem is exacerbated in the typical front-wheel drive wheelchair by the use of trailing, freely-swiveling castors. In such wheelchairs the center of gravity is behind the wheelchair drive wheels and thus the momentum of the moving wheelchair adds to any turning force generated by the drive wheels. Once the front wheels lose traction, the trailing castors allow the wheelchair to spin out of control. In a rear-wheel drive wheelchair, where the center of gravity is ahead of the drive wheels the inertia of the wheelchair opposes turning forces generated by the drive wheels.
Also, in front-wheel drive wheelchairs the center of gravity with the occupant included is generally positioned at a level that is above the level of the drive wheel axis of rotation, and thus braking forces generated at the drive wheels during wheelchair forward motion, when combined with the momentum forces acting through the center of gravity, create wheelchair forward tipping moments which further contribute to wheelchair motion instability.
A typical maximum stable speed for rear-wheel drive wheelchairs is about 7+ miles per hour. The typical maximum speed for front-wheel drive wheelchairs is approximately 4 miles per hour if the drive wheel differential speed is monitored with motor current/voltage sensing. If the front drive wheels are monitored with tachometers and/or position sensors, speeds of approximately 5 miles per hour can be achieved. However, in either instance once the wheels start to slip, directional control is lost.
It is possible to further increase the maximum speed to about 6 or 7 miles per hour in a front-wheel drive wheelchair by steering the rear castors, but this approach sacrifices the maneuverability (turning radius) that predicted the selection of front-wheel drive to start. Such wheelchairs are not practical for indoor use.
An additional stability problem with both front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive power wheelchairs is "veering" when traversing a sloping surface. In those instances there often is a tendency for the wheelchair to uncontrollably turn or "veer". Such can be an instability problem of major magnitude in wheelchairs that use switch-type operator controls.